Google MapsClay Street in Milltown, where a corrections officer is under observation at Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center after a standoff with police earlier this evening.

MILLTOWN — A state corrections officer is under evaluation after a tense standoff with police earlier tonight, authorities said.

Police received a 911 call shortly after 6 p.m. when neighbors said that Joseph Farrell, 45, was distraught and under the influence inside of his Clay Street home in Milltown, said Borough Police Chief Ray Geipel. When police arrived, Geipel said, the situation escalated.

"An off duty officer saw what he believed to be an assault rifle," Geipel said. New Brunswick Police, and a Middlesex County SWAT team soon joined Milltown, and tried to talk to Farrell.

"A negotiator finally spoke to him on the phone and convinced him," to come out, Geipel said. When Farrell emerged, police saw the weapon was an Airsoft, a replica assault rifle.

"It was a good outcome to what could have been a bad situation," Geipel said.

Farrell has been a corrections officer for more than nine years, according to public records. Most recently he worked at Eastern State Prison.